Ready to learn something new? Because it’s time for another Designs By Miss Mandee Illustrator tutorial! My last tutorial was a special one for all my crafty friends out there, and today’s is a follow-up to it. If you’re a fellow Cricut user, then you won’t want to miss this. Find out how to make “print then cut” files of your very own!
When I first heard about the “print then cut” feature of the Cricut I was extremely intrigued! After all, this opens up the realm of die-cut possibilities at least 100-fold. But, when I was trying to figure out how to do this, I was hard-pressed to find useful instructions, and I definitely couldn’t find anything that told me how to make my own “print then cut” files from scratch. So, after a lot (and I mean A LOT) of trial and error, I figured out how to do it, and now I’m going to share this knowledge with you!
Design Space tools you’ll learn about:
Ungroup
Flatten
(Hint: If you haven’t watched my last tutorial video about preparing SVG files, you’ll want to check that one out first because, in this tutorial, I skip the steps I explained in that one.)
I hope you enjoyed the tutorial, and I hope I explained everything adequately. Now that you know the best kept secret (in my opinion) in the Cricut world, there’s nothing that can stop you (except maybe low toner).
P.S. If you like the retro box template I used in the video, then I have a feeling you’re going to like next week’s freebie…
*I am linking up to these parties
Mandee is a professional graphic designer, amateur bird watcher, and rollercoaster enthusiast. She is a wife to hardworking high school teacher and mommy to three adorable little humans. She fell in love with graphic design when she started working on a comedy website with a guy she met her freshman year of college. Design wasn’t the only thing she fell in love with, and they were married a year and a half later. She created Designs By Miss Mandee to be a place where she could merge her passion for design with her lifelong love of crafting. 6 Comments on How to Make “Print Then Cut” Files
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Lis
September 6, 2016 at 11:40 pm (8 years ago)Hi, great tutorial, very clear! May I ask what kind of home printer you use? I’ve been using an HP OfficeJet 7000 that seems to only know how to suck ink or get clogged (and suck more ink cleaning). I had gotten to the point of being ready to do without an inkjet printer (I have a laser printer b/w), but now I’ve seen your video and that looks so awesome to be able to use this feature.
Mandee
September 7, 2016 at 1:06 pm (8 years ago)Haha! I have an HP Photosmart D110 wireless inkjet printer that I use. It’s not super fancy, but it does really well with “print then cut” files (and doesn’t get clogged), which makes me happy. 🙂 Your laser printer should work too. I haven’t tested to know for sure, but as long as your Cricut can read the registration marks it prints, you should be in business.
Kayla Currier
January 6, 2017 at 12:48 pm (8 years ago)Thank you so much for this tutorial! I just got a Cricut and Ive gone through a few trial and error projects before finding your tutorial. I really appreciate you sharing!!!
Mandee
January 6, 2017 at 1:28 pm (8 years ago)You’re very welcome Kayla! I’m so happy to hear that you found my tips useful. It definitely can take a lot of trial and error to get things set up right. 🙂
Kirstin
November 16, 2017 at 1:20 am (7 years ago)HI Mandee — hoping you can help me. No matter what, my print then cut files always result in the Cricut cutting around the letters. I’m trying to create a gift tag with writing on it (print) that then gets cut out in a square with a hole for the ribbon. Any idea what I’m doing wrong? I have followed both of your videos (how to make an SVG in Illustrator and this one). Even though I take it into Design Space with just 2 compound paths, I’m still ending up with the Cricut trying to cut around each individual letter.
Mandee
November 16, 2017 at 9:08 am (7 years ago)Hi Kirstin,
After I made this video, I discovered a couple more steps that are sometimes needed in order to make “Print Then Cut” work properly. Check out this video I made about creating stickers, and let me know if you still have questions. I wish this wasn’t such an unnecessarily complicated process!